Minkus;Leon La Bayadere [Blu-ray]

This production by Nureyev is splendid! it is probably the best production of this ballet you will ever own! In it we are previlaged to witness two of the greatest stars of the world of ballet. Miss Elisabeth Platel in the role of Gamzatti and Miss Isabelle Guerin in the role of Nikia. Unfortunately they have both since retired from the Paris Opera, all the more reason to buy this dvd and cherish it! Miss Platel is the ultimate Gamzatti but than she is a superb ballerina of taste and refinment rarely seen. Her portrayel of Gamzatti is so elegant as befitting the daughter of a prince on the eve of her bethothal to Solor, danced by the very masculine Laurent Hilaire who was perfectly suited for the role of the warrier, that you almost forget her evil intentions towards Nykia and identify with her longing for this match to take place. She is after all inlove with Solor and will stop at nothing to secure her own happiness. Miss Platel is Dazzling! Her Port de bras is of rare quality and unmatched by anyone so far. Her upper body moves with such musicality that one is almost able to hear the music through it.
Miss Guerin is a ballerina of rare authenticity and technical prowess. She sparkles! Her entrance in the third act kingdom of the shades is marked by a pose on stage with one arm lifted and her eyes gazing towards her fingertips. This is a moment of greatness it summerises for me the essence of ballet. She is mesmerising by force of her presence without having to blink an eye! Miss Guerin need but whisper whilst other have to shout.
Mr. Hilaire is a captivating warrier. Masculine to the point of being sexy. This is well suited to the oriental theme of this ballet. His leaps are powerful and his presence forceful. His partnering both of miss Platel and of Miss Guerin is commendable.
The corps de ballet is "de grand rigueur" seldom Have I seen such perfect execution of the third act's kingdom of the shades.
The tutus in the paris opera are of perfect diameter and show off the lines of the ballerinas to the fullest. One could not expect any less from the french. Chapeau!

I have been dancing for five years, and haven't seen any real professional ballet dancers dance. I have bought this tape and American Ballet Theatre's Le Corsaire to see which ballet company is the best. I have to say that the Bolshoi Ballet exceed's ABT by so much! The male dancers are strong and powerful, the female dancers light and graceful. The Bolshoi Ballet's dancers cannot even be compared to those of ABT! I look forward to their upcoming performances. Please by this tape and enjoy the wonderful performance of the Bolshoi!

This is the 1989 staging by Natalia Makarova of Marius Petipa's (Creator/choreographer of "The Sleeping Beauty", "Don Quixote", "The Nutcracker", "Swan Lake" among others) 19th century ballet masterpeice "La Bayadere". The ballet has been passed down for many years since its 1877 premiere with many changes done along the way. Makarova does the same as those before her, making many changes. She also restages the long lost last act that had been dropped since the early 1920's. It was dropped by the Kirov back then due to the fact that the monarchy had been overthrown, and the funding needed to stage the finale's special effects was no longer available.

Some of Makarova's changes are a little to much like the cutting of many numbers. She cut dances of the betrothal scene divertessment: 'Danse Manu' (of the girl who balances a water jug on her head), the intense 'Indian Dance', and the 'snake charmer' section. Along with this she cut some incidental scenes out, and re-ordered the scenes and dances in the act I palace scene. Her choreography in the last act restoration is awful and not anywhere near the style of the work as a whole. She does such a good job in her choreography of the betrothal scene's opening waltz that you wonder where all her skill went. I do like, however, that she stuck the bronze idol variation as a sort of incedental number in the opening of the last scene. It really captures the mysterious exoticism of that number, and gives it a 'nobodys watching so Im gonna dance' feel.

Luckily the dancers are all excellent here, and are really what make this very stream-lined version work. Assylmoratova stars as Nikiya, whose Vaganova training and expressiveness just about make everyone else on stage look like amateurs (in my opinion) with the exception of her fellow leads, Darcey Bussell as Gamzatti, and Erik Mukhamedov as Solor. Bussell is quite 'Kirov-like' in her dancing, with long limbs and affeminate arms uncharacteristic of Royal Ballet danseuses. She is presice, graceful, and a great actress (watch the 'cat-fight'in Act I scene II, where the heroines feud). Erik Mukhamedov is a Bolshoi trained powerhouse. Combined with obvious English style coaching since he left the Bolshoi for the Royal Ballet, he is an awesome dancer: his grand pas solo is virtuosity at its most high, and a fine partner (Bussell is a little tall for him and he partners her very well). The whole ballet glitters even more when Tetsuya Kumakawa's spectacular Bronze Idol variation makes the polite English audience cheer the loudest they got during this performance. The act I 'Djambe Dance' in the second scene of the first act is well danced by the ballerinas. They seem to have been well coached in style.

The corps does not hold a candle to the Kirov or Paris Opera in the 'Kingdom of the Shades' scene, but they give it thier all and do better than most (especially ABT). The three shades solos are near perfect, if only the first two ballerinas would wipe those stupid smiles off of thier faces, as they have no business in the opulent 'Kingdom of the Shades'. Regardless of our first two shade girl's grins, all of the classical variations in this performance are exmaples of ballet dancing at its best, and the revised Minkus score by Lanchbery gives the soloists a big drum roll at the end of a variation for added affect.

This brings me to the music, Leon Minkus's score is revised here by John Lanchbery. His arrangments give the music color, an exotic feel, and where it lacked in the original composition, depth (hear the original untouched score on the video of the Kirov or Bolshoi Ballet's version). The sets and costumes are grand, while still not being to much. I dont know why Mukhamedov (as Solor) wears the same costume for three acts though......

This film of the Makarova restaging is worth owning most definatly. Although only available in Europe, Rudolf Nureyev's version for the Paris Opera is the best you can get (check out Amazon.co.uk), and is in my opinion the creme de la creme of recordings on film of this ballet at least as far as production goes. The Kirov (or now the Mariinsky Ballet) recently restaged "La Bayadere" to its more or less original state as staged by Petipa in 1900 for his last revival of the work. It is the greatest version of this classic anywhere in the world equally to Nureyev's. Hopefully the Kirov isnt dumb enough to let their recent revival be absent for a long time from DVD or video, or to never be filmed at all. It would be a great disservice to the world of dance. If you cant get a hold of Nureyev's Paris Opera staging this is the best way to go though the soloists on that film arent as great as the video reviewed here. Ill this film here 4 stars for the beauty of its production and great performances, minus 1 for the choreography of the last act, and those stupid smiles on the first two shades soloist's faces.